


Chasing Dreams

by halfmoonjisung



Series: Dream of Me [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crush, Infatuation, M/M, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21778576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfmoonjisung/pseuds/halfmoonjisung
Summary: You know that instance when a very random person suddenly appears in your dream one night and when you wake up, you can’t stop thinking about them? You start noticing them more often, start observing them from afar, start letting them invade your thoughts.Hyunjin would know. The day he got a jar of paper stars was also the night he dreamt about Lee Felix, the quiet bookworm at the back of the classroom, and ever since he woke up after that, he’s never been the same.[ edited title ]
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Felix, Undisclosed Relationship(s)
Series: Dream of Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708087
Comments: 30
Kudos: 356





	1. The Night Holds My Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjin bought a harmless jar of paper stars on what seemed like a fairly regular day, until he started dreaming about someone that night.

There’s never really a definite reason why we dream, moreover, why we dream about someone. Science has yet to find an explanation to this phenomenon, but for now, we only hold on to theories.

Some say that dreams don’t actually mean anything, that they are merely electrical brain impulses pulling from memories, emotions, stimuli, and any trace of the waking day before we sleep. Research has also said that quite a percentage of people who dream about someone most likely know the person they’re dreaming about.

At least, to an extent, that’s what Hyunjin thought.

As far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything special that day. He wasn’t exactly extremely happy or feeling down. He was just fine, and things were just as they should be - he had Changbin pick him up from home so he could ride on the back of his motorcycle, he listened to his playlist while on the way to school, and he begged Seungmin to let him copy his Math homework when he got there.

“I overslept,” he reasoned out, still poking Seungmin’s arms in an attempt to get his attention. They were always pretty early for homeroom. Not even half of the seats inside were occupied yet - it was just the two of them, a couple of girls hanging out by the door, a guy at the back, and a few people seated in front, sleeping on their armchairs. This was perfect for Hyunjin, since he was planning to “catch up” on homework before their first period starts. “I went to bed early so I could do it in the morning, but I woke up and completely ignored my alarm.”

Seungmin snorted in his seat. “That’s not my problem, and I don’t see how any of this can benefit me.”

Hyunjin still didn’t stop poking his arm. “Please, Minnie! I’ll get you one of those cupcakes that Changbin-hyung bakes, the one with your favorite flavor. Lemon, right?”

Seungmin pursed his lips in consideration, and Hyunjin smiled in triumph. It was always the mention of Changbin that would catch him off guard. Changbin’s family, having lived right across Hyunjin’s for a long time, became friends with them. The older had a hobby of baking cupcakes and he would always make sure to give Hyunjin some. When Seungmin came to Hyunjin’s home and Changbin happened to deliver Hyunjin’s cupcakes at the same time they arrived, Hyunjin knew, by the way his best friend was looking at his family friend, that their simple interaction would grow into something more someday. He felt a little guilty using the Changbin card on his Seungmin, but he really needed to pass his homework later.

“Fine, you can copy mine,” Seungmin conceded, swatting away Hyunjin’s finger that still wouldn’t stop bothering his arms. “Enough with the poking!”

Hyunjin proceeded to shower Seungmin with praises as his friend handed him his homework. He spent the remaining time before homeroom trying to solve the answers on his own first, and then verifying his solutions with Seungmin’s. People started to pile up inside the classroom, and it was fifteen minutes before the first period started that Jisung arrived.

“Wow,” Hyunjin heard Seungmin acknowledge Jisung’s presence. “You’re miraculously early.”

The other smirked in response as he took the seat in front of Seungmin. “I surprised you, Kim, didn’t I?”

Hyunjin chuckled at that but Seungmin didn’t find it funny. “I told you not to call me by my last name!”

“But I like your last name!”

“It’s common, Jisung.”

It wouldn’t be a regular day if there wasn’t a moment where Seungmin and Jisung would bicker at each other. Hyunjin was almost thankful that he had homework to catch up on, otherwise he would be listening to the words they were constantly throwing.

“Jisung?” an almost unfamiliar voice asked.

Hyunjin glanced up a little bit to see who spoke. It was just the guy at the back, the one who comes to class way earlier than him and Seungmin, a nonchalant expression on his face as he stared down Jisung who looked mildly intimidated by the guy.

He let out a small laugh before returning back to his homework.

“Hey, Felix,” he heard Jisung greet. He also heard Seungmin snort.

“Here’s your copy of the novel, the one we borrowed at the library yesterday. We’re still going to work on our English report today at the library after class, right?” Hyunjin was slightly distracted with how deep his voice was.

“Y- yeah we are!” Jisung practically squeaked, causing both Seungmin and Hyunjin masked out their laughs with fake coughs. He could feel Jisung’s glare even though he wasn’t looking at him. “I- uh- thank you for giving it to me. I can’t believe I forgot it.”

Hyunjin was sure it wasn’t meant to be heard, but he still caught Felix’s scoff under his breath. “At least I’m here to bring it back to you. And remind you about our project.”

“I won’t forget about it again!” Jisung said with an attempt to make it sound enthusiastic. At this point Hyunjin and Seungmin were just doing everything they can to stifle their laughter. “And I will be there later! After last period, I’ll head to the library immediately!”

“Just make sure you’re not late again,” Felix grumbled before he walked away from the group and when he was finally back in his seat, Hyunjin and Seungmin released the laughter they’ve been trying to hold. He even stopped doing his homework for a while to spite his friend, who was just giving them annoyed stares.

“Very funny,” he muttered, slouching on his seat. Hyunjin earned a glare from him as he doubled up in laughter. “You’re supposed to be copying Seungmin’s homework! Stop making fun of me.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Seungmin started, still recovering from his own fits of laughter. “That was very entertaining. I concede, Jisung. You are the star of this room.”

Jisung gave him the finger which caused Hyunjin to laugh even more and for Seungmin to just roll his eyes. “Did I lie though?” Seungmin added and the other just groaned loudly in despair.

“In all - Hyunjin, quit laughing for a while! - uh, seriousness,” Jisung’s voice dropped lower and the three brought their heads a little bit closer to contain the conversation. “Lee Felix is scary. I swear he could stare at you like you’re nothing and you’d feel awfully small.”

Seungmin shrugged. “Maybe you’re just really short.” He earned another finger from Jisung.

“I mean, have you heard his voice? Who has a voice like that? It’s really creepy!” Jisung continued. “Yesterday, when we went to the library, I really tried to start a conversation to lighten up the mood but you know what I got? Deadpanned stares. It was like he was seeing through my soul, man! It was pretty scary.”

As if on cue, even though Hyunjin knew they shouldn’t, the three of them turned to look at where Felix was. He was on his seat at the back, second armchair from the left, his earphones plugged in and his nose buried in yet another novel. Hyunjin was pretty sure it was a different one from what he was reading yesterday, but he couldn’t really recall. From what Jisung said, Hyunjin couldn’t find the “scary” part from the sight. It was just a regular guy minding his own business and lost in his own world.

Seungmin thought so too, because he instantly said, “How could you be afraid of him?”

Jisung put his face in his hands and silently screamed. He looked at the two of them incredulously as he said, “Didn’t you see him a while ago? He was standing near you guys! Couldn’t you feel his aura?”

Seungmin scoffed at that. “From what I heard, you were at fault.”

And because of that, they were back to their bickering session. Hyunjin snickered and returned to answering his homework, but he didn’t get to finish it with full integrity because when he saw the time narrow down to five minutes before homeroom, he just gave up and copied all of Seungmin’s answers on the remaining items.

* * *

“You had one job,” Seungmin said as he and Hyunjin packed up their things. Last period just ended, and Jisung immediately bolted out of the room to go to the library, claiming he had to be there before Felix so he wouldn’t get any more glares from him. That left Seungmin and Hyunjin to go home together. ”You only had to copy my answers, and you still managed to get a few wrong.”

“I couldn’t distinguish your one from your seven,” Hyunjin mumbled. “But those items were the things I really copied. The ones I solved on my own, I got them right.”

“That’s nice,” Seungmin said, and they headed out to the door.

They talked about the homework they passed, the lessons they had that day, the requirement they were about to pass next week, and just how their entire day went. When they reached the student lobby, they didn’t expect to see juniors and seniors occupying the entire place with various booths.

“It’s our Econ project!” someone said. The two turned around, and Changbin’s wide smile greeted them. From the corner of Hyunjin’s eye, he saw Seungmin blush faintly. “Seniors are supposed to sell handmade products, and us juniors have to write a report about it.”

Hyunjin looked around the lobby. There were a lot of amazing things that he couldn’t believe were handmade. Caps, wallets, keychains, and a whole lot of other crafts. “Were you planning to buy something?” he heard Seungmin ask.

“Yeah, I was,” Changbin replied. He pointed to a booth near the trophy area. “My classmates were gushing about their jars of paper stars, I thought I should get one.”

“We’re getting one too, then!” Seungmin said.

Hyunjin huffed smugly. “We are?”

Seungmin just pinched his wrist and Hyunjin did his best to not yelp in pain. Changbin said something about that being a great idea, and the next thing he knew was that they were in front of the paper stars store. A senior greeted them with the biggest smile he'd seen today. “Welcome! Our jar of paper hearts brings you promises of dreams that will make your slumber warm, cozy and comfortable. Thank you for choosing our store!”

“Anytime,” Changbin replied. The three of them scanned at the various designs laid out in front of them, as well as those hanging behind the senior, who Hyunjin just noticed had a name tag with “Chan” on it. Seungmin was half scanning the jars of paper stars and half trying to see what Changbin was looking for.

Hyunjin, however, observed something. “They come in -”

“Pairs? Yes!” Chan finished for him, smiling even bigger than before. Hyunjin wondered if he had been smiling all day, because he didn’t look tired of it. “Our jars of paper stars come in pairs! A set of paper stars is divided into two jars. It’s best bought with someone so you guys can match. There’s some over here, however,” he pointed at a small pile at the corner of the table. “That were bought individually. Someone just bought one, so they’re left without a pair. They still work their magic, though!”

Hyunjin, glancing at Seungmin and Changbin, knew what to do next. He picked a random jar without a pair, its size just as big as the palm of his hand, and returned Chan’s smile. “I’d like to take this lonely one! It’s unfair that its pair gets bought and it doesn’t.”

Chan smiled at that. “Okay then, let me wrap it for you.” Hyunjin handed him his chosen jar.

Changbin, however, turned to Seungmin. “Do you want to get a pair with me?”

Hyunjin, again, smiled in triumph as Seungmin blushed again, nodding. They both chose the same design and had Chan wrap it for them too. After paying, Seungmin and Hyunjin bid good bye to Changbin, as juniors weren’t dismissed as early as them. They walked out of the school, their new jars of paper stars in their hands.

“What do paper stars even do?” Hyunjin started as they walked.

“Chase dreams?” Seungmin offered, reading the paper label on the jar. "It says here they sort of act like a dream chaser. They provide you good dreams for when you sleep. Oh, it'd be a nice to dream of an A in Math.

They both laughed at that and joked about it a little bit more, before they had to part ways and Hyunjin was left to walk alone. When he got home, he made sure to do all his homework because he didn’t want to copy from Seungmin two days in a row. And, it didn’t hurt to be a little bit more productive. He finished early and even managed to catch up on some episodes of the Korean drama he’s been watching before he decided it was time to sleep.

Having the contents of his bag splattered on his desk because he decided to do homework, he saw the jar of paper stars he bought, still wrapped and unopened. He didn’t want to waste the thing, so he got it out of its package, found some spot to place it, and finally let sleep take him away.

* * *

He was pretty early for his seven am class. He glanced at the wall clock; there were only five minutes left until six am. He didn’t even know why he was early, but at least he was. He looked to the windows and caught a glimpse of the first rays of sunrise shining through.

“Pretty, right?”

The voice startled Hyunjin. It never occurred to him that there might be someone else who was also early like him. Looking over to where the voice came from, he saw Lee Felix, a novel in his hand and a small smile on his face, seated yet again at his usual spot at the back. He used to feel far away, but with the room only containing the two of them, he felt a little bit closer.

“You’re early,” Hyunjin managed to say.

Felix shrugged. “I always am.”

He put down his book on top of his armchair, as if he was ready to give his full attention to Hyunjin. There was a small part of a bookmark poking out in the middle of the pages. Hyunjin looked at him once more. Jisung mentioned glares and deadpanned stares, but all he could see was a soft smile and a warm expression. He was looking at Hyunjin with interest, as if he was worth more than whatever novel Felix was reading.

“Is there a reason you’re always early?” Hyunjin asked.

Felix turned to look at the window. “That,”

Hyunjin did the same, and the picturesque scene of sunrise greeted him. The dark of the dawn slowly faded as the rays of the sun finally greeted the world. He never saw the sunrise. Whenever he woke up, he’d head straight to the bathroom to get ready and by the time he was done, the sun was already up.

However, he asked, “Can’t you see it from your home?”

Felix, still looking at the view, smiled. “Not really. The buildings block it. That’s why I always try to catch it everyday by being early. I tried to catch it from different parts of the town, but for some reason I like seeing it from here.”

Hyunjin observed the scene. Their room was on the fourth floor of the second building, and the window gives you a perfect view of the town. Not too low to see a limited number of buildings, and not too high to miss out on the details. From a distance, you could also see the ocean from where the sun shows its glory. It illuminated the town with a soft, warm color that even behind the glass windows, Hyunjin could feel every bit of it.

He turned to look at Felix who was still looking at the view. Felix looked at the scenery with eyelids half dropped, like he was in that state between dreaming and waking up. The sunlight illuminated him with a warm glow as well. Even from a distance, he could see his freckles become even more visible from the growing sunshine. If Hyunjin could paint, this would be the perfect inspiration. A breathtaking moment caught in its simplest form.

Felix finally faced him again, the glow still on him. “How about you? Why are you early?”

Hyunjin didn’t even know how to answer that. He just knew he was early. “Uh,” he started, scratching the back of his neck, trying to come up with something that could pass as an answer. “I don’t want to be late?”

He mentally slapped himself when he realized it came out like a question. Felix didn’t judge him, though. The freckled boy just let out a giggle, and Hyunjin wasn’t expecting to like the sound. It complemented the sunrise so well. He tried to think of another topic to talk about and his eyes found the book on top of Felix’s desk. “Why are you always reading?”

“Oh,” Felix picked up his novel and flipped it open. “It’s my favorite thing.”

“Other than the sunrise?”

Felix smiled at that. “Yeah, other than the sunrise.” He scanned the pages of his book. “I guess I just like the feeling of imagination. Movies are cool and all, because you really don’t have to do anything else, they just show you already what they want to convey. Books, however,” he let out a sigh. “They give you the power to create your own vision. And I guess I just really like that, you know. Having your own touch with words.”

Hyunjin nodded. “I understand you. I read books too, sometimes, and I love having my own take with how the world and the characters look.”

“You read too?” Felix looked at him.

“Yeah, I do,” Hyunjin didn’t know why, but he stood up from his seat. He walked towards where Felix was seated and took the seat in front of him, adjusted it a little bit so that they were facing each other. “Although, I think you’ve read more books than me. Like, way more.”

Felix giggled again. Hyunjin wouldn’t get tired of hearing that. “I do bring a new novel almost everyday.”

“You don’t run out of them.”

“Well,” Felix trailed, putting down the book again. “The library’s always there.”

“Hmm,” Hyunjin hummed. “Is the library your favorite place?”

Felix shrugged. “Not really, I mean, it’s nice and all, I really like the ambiance, but I don’t think I can consider it my favorite place. In fact,” he put the weight of his head on his hand. “I don’t think I can consider anything as my favorite place yet. I’d say my bed, but it’s missing the sunrise. I’d say this classroom, but let’s not fool ourselves. Who even considers this as their favorite place?”

It was Hyunjin’s turn to laugh. It went on like that, the two of them talking inside the classroom, the sunrise illuminating them. For some reason, the full daylight never came. Maybe time was just slow, but Hyunjin didn’t mind. He wondered why he never talked to Felix. All words came out naturally, like they knew each other way before this encounter. They talked about a lot of things that Hyunjin lost track of time, if time was even a thing. It was like him and Felix were stuck in a certain moment, somewhere near six am, in an empty classroom with the sun peeking from the ocean as a window view.

Hyunjin didn’t mind. Not one bit.

Every time he looked at Felix, it felt like Felix really belonged in the moment - like he was made for it. Hyunjin didn’t have to turn towards the window to look at the sunlight, not when he was staring at something close to it, or even more than.

He thought about inviting Felix later at lunch with him, Seungmin, and Jisung (since they knew each other already), and possibly become closer friends. The other two wouldn’t mind having another one join the group. Besides, he saw Felix almost always alone. He’d love to keep him company.

And then Felix stood up.

“Hey, where are you going?” Hyunjin asked, following Felix who was heading to the door.

Felix looked at the wall clock. “It’s time to go.”

Hyunjin was confused. “Go where?”

Felix looked back at him one last time, the sunlight giving him that mesmerizing glow, showing his freckles and highlighting his eyes, as he gave Hyunjin the warmest of smiles. “Good morning, Hyunjin.”

* * *

Hyunjin woke up.

The first thing he saw was the jar of paper stars he placed on his desk last night. After that, he opened the curtain blinds in his room and let the sunlight in.

Though, there was no sunlight yet. He looked at the clock beside his bed. 5:50 am. The sun was just about to rise.

“What the hell,” he mumbled, trying to shake away the moment between dreaming and waking up, and proceeded to his everyday routine. He was sure he’d forget about this dream in a while, the way his other dreams fade away.

He was in the shower and he could still remember it.

He was eating breakfast and he could still remember it.

He was at the back of Changbin’s motorcycle and he could still remember it.

Why Felix? Of all people to dream about?

When he reached the classroom, Seungmin was already there, playing a mobile game. He glanced at the approaching Hyunjin before setting down his phone. “Good morning?”

Hyunjin slouched on his seat. “Good morning,” he grumbled.

Seungmin scoffed. “Well, that’s a cheerful greeting. You did the homework?”

Hyunjin nodded mindlessly. He could still remember the dream. He could remember it as clear as day. Were dreams really supposed to be like that? He didn’t know.

Seungmin tried to start a conversation in an attempt to get Hyunjin out of his current mood. “How do you think Jisung handled the Felix situation yesterday?”

At the mention of Felix’s name, Hyunjin sat up and immediately turned towards the back of the classroom. There he was, nose buried in a book different from yesterday, earphones plugged in, looking just as real as ever. It was the same spot in his dream, which Hyunjin realized was the same spot Felix always occupied. Hyunjin wondered why he dreamt of this person. He never talked to him except during class work. He could even bet that Seungmin talked to him more times than Hyunjin ever did. So why did he dream of him? Why was Lee Felix invading his mind?

“Earth to Hyunjin!” Seungmin snapped and Hyunjin clumsily reverted his attention back to his friend. Seungmin had his eyebrows crossed and was looking at him suspiciously. “What’s wrong with you this morning?”

Hyunjin couldn’t speak. From the corner of his eye, he was trying to glance at Felix, trying to see what he’s doing, taking in that he’s actually real. Seungmin tilted his head to the side as he observed him.

“Hwang Hyunjin,” he started. “What on earth are you blushing for?”


	2. And I Dream In The Day Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the dream, Hyunjin can't stop stealing glances and thinking about Felix, and he keeps blaming the jar of paper hearts for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long! also, you may have noticed that i changed the number of chapters to four, because i added something to my original outline. have fun!
> 
> will edit properly when the whole thing's completed :)

In dreams, you get to escape whether you wish for it or not. Whether you wanted to stay because the dream was going all too well or you wanted to leave because it was driving you crazy, it would still take you away from whatever stuff your mind has conjured.

In real life, that wasn’t the case.

After Seungmin pointed out that he was blushing, he quickly swatted him off and took out his phone to distract himself with some mobile games. He picked the one that he saw Changbin was playing while waiting for him outside his house and let himself get lost in it.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. He was still too distracted and confused about the dream he had earlier and it made him fail all the missions in the game. Seungmin, who was watching him from his seat, made disapproving noises and comments everytime Hyunjin would miss something (“It was obvious that you should’ve gone for the red.”).

Thankfully, Jisung arrived and Seungmin’s attention shifted to him, their constant bickering now a familiar backdrop in Hyunjin’s mornings. This time, they were talking about the Econ fair that he and Seungmin visited yesterday and how they didn’t take Jisung with them.

“You could’ve at least waited until today!” Jisung exasperated. “We had our project planned out yesterday, so Felix and I won’t have to meet.”

At the mention of Felix’s name, Hyunjin felt his face turn into a deep shade of crimson. Taking advantage of the fact that Jisung and Seungmin were lost in their own bubble, he turned his head to an angle where he can have the said object of his dreams included in his view.

Nothing much changed from how he saw him earlier. Felix was still immersed in the novel he was reading, lips pursed as he turned over a page. Hyunjin thought back of the times that he enjoyed reading when he was little, how the three of them would go to the book store after middle school where Hyunjin and Seungmin would rush to where the children’s novels were while Jisung would go to the comic book sections. He enjoyed reading. There was a time when he and Seungmin considered opening a little book club between their classmates, but the school’s Foundation Day got in the way and they didn’t get to do it. Maybe he can try again and ask Felix to join them.

As if on cue, Felix smiled, and Hyunjin’s breath hitched. It was the same smile in the dream, and quite possibly the first real smile Hyunjin ever acknowledged from him. Sure, he saw him smile but those were incidental times that he didn’t even think twice about, the same way other people would smile and he wouldn’t even dwell on them. But when Felix smiled, Hyunjin was awestruck. Did he read an interesting passage? Did he predict something ahead and he turned out to be right? Did he find something funny? Hyunjin didn’t know, but he was sure that whatever it was, he was thankful for it because he witnessed the prettiest smile everywhere.

Dream Felix’s smile was bright and glowing. Real Felix’s smile was warm and enough.

“What are you staring at?”

Hyunjin quickly regained his composure and waved his arm in the air. Jisung was looking at him incredulously while Seungmin gave him a careful look.

“I was trying to observe a bee in the room,” he lied, still waving his hands awkwardly in an attempt to look like he was swatting an insect away.

“Yeah that’s not the way to catch a bee,” Jisung trailed. “If you’re even trying to catch it. Also, bees won’t hurt you unless you hurt them first so I suggest you stop doing karate chops to the air in case you accidentally hit it.”

“There’s no bee,” Seungmin deadpanned.

“Were you the one trying to catch it?” Jisung retorted. “I don’t think so.”

They went back to their usual bickering, and Hyunjin went back to looking at Felix. Only, he couldn’t do that because Jaemin, the guy seated in front of Felix, had people surrounding him, blocking Felix from his view.

He scowled before scolding himself for doing so, ultimately just deciding to join in Seungmin and Jisung’s conversation.

“What do you even know about catching bees?” he caught Seungmin say.

“Okay, let’s leave the bee situation behind,” Hyunjin interrupted before Jisung could even say something back, his body already on the edge of his seat as if he were preparing to tower over a seated Seungmin.

Jisung sighed and changed the topic. “I still can’t believe you two went out to buy paper stars without me!”

“We weren’t really going to buy,” Hyunjin started. “But we saw Changbin hyung, and you can guess what happened.”

Seungmin huffed, but color now rose to his cheeks. For a while, Hyunjin thought Jisung looked dejected, but before he could check again he was already whining again.

“It wasn’t effective anyway,” Seungmin interrupted Jisung’s whines. “I didn’t dream anything.”

That caught Hyunjin’s attention. “You what?”

Seungmin gave him a pointed look. “I didn’t.”

“But why?!”

Seungmin now narrowed his eyes. “Did you?”

Hyunjin pursed his lips. “I don’t have to tell you.”

Unfortunately, Jisung cheered at Hyunjin’s discomfort and adjusted his seat nearer to Seungmin so that the two of them were now staring at him. “Do tell us! You seem extremely bothered by it.”

Fortunately, their homeroom teacher entered the room at the exact moment, and Hyunjin let out a sigh of relief the same time Jisung groaned and adjusted his seat back. He could also hear the assembly from Jaemin’s seat shuffling back to their places, which meant he could get a clearer view of Felix again.

He closed his eyes and once again scolded himself for thinking about that.

 _Stupid dream,_ he thought, finding something to blame for his behavior. _Stupid paper stars._

The day went on normally, but Hyunjin couldn’t stay still. The picture of Felix’s smile as he read that novel kept resurfacing in his mind. It was difficult for him to take in the lessons when he couldn’t even focus on them.

“Hwang!”

That caught Hyunjin’s attention. He looked around and saw the class looking at him expectantly as well as their Literature teacher who’s giving him an encouraging smile. He figured that she just asked a question and called out a random surname. Hyunjin cursed internally at that.

He thought of the first random literature thing that came to his mind. “Shakespeare?”

Jisung failed to hold back a chuckle.

Their teacher’s smile didn’t drop, however, he could see the look in her eyes change. “I’m sure that’s the right answer to another question. Anyone here who can help Mr. Hwang out? Yes, Mr. Lee!”

Hyunjin slumped back to his seat, expecting to hear either Jeno or Donghyuck, both bearing the mentioned surname, say the right answer. Seungmin glanced at him and gave him an _Are you okay?_ look, nodding in response even though he’s not entirely sure about it.

“Morpheus, god of dreams.”

His eyes went wide at the sound. He turned to see the person who answered and lo and behold, Felix was standing with a small smile on his face. He was used to Felix always reciting and being an admirable student, but this was the first time he actually appreciated him for it; not because he helped Hyunjin out with the question, whatever it is, but because intelligence looked good with Felix. Sure, it wasn’t even a special question, but the way Felix held himself, head a little bit tilted to the side as if he’s ready to answer more questions confidently, Hyunjin couldn’t stop staring.

“That’s right! Thank you Mr. Lee, you may take your seat! As I was saying…”

But Hyunjin zoned out again. Felix sat back down and directed his attention in front again. He caught Hyunjin looking at him and offered him a slight nod to acknowledge him before focusing on the lecture again. Hyunjin didn’t even get the chance to nod back, and honestly he wouldn’t be able to do so. He felt the now familiar warmth rise up to his cheeks as he forced himself to focus on their lesson.

All throughout that, Seungmin was watching. He gave Hyunjin another look, this time saying _Are you sure you’re okay?_

Hyunjin chose to ignore the question and nudged his head towards the front, as if telling Seungmin that they should listen to the lesson. His friend rolled his eyes before returning back to the lecture.

Meanwhile, Hyunjin returned back to his thoughts which were all occupied by the same person that was there from the night before.

* * *

“Earth to Hyunjin! I asked if you wanted chicken fillet or burger patty.”

Hyunjin turned his focus to Jisung who’s looking a bit annoyed. It was lunch time, and they were both in line at the cafeteria while Seungmin was saving their table and seats. “Burger patty. What’s Seungmin getting? Did we even ask him?”

“We don’t have to, I know what he likes, “ Jisung said, trying to grab the attention of the lunch lady. Hyunjin raised his eyebrows at that, but made no comment. “Three orders of burger patties and bananas please!”

Hyunjin took this chance to scan the room again. He was looking for a particular table with a particular person sitting on it, and he still hadn’t found him. Hyunjin told himself that he was simply curious, that’s why he was doing this.

“There you go again,” Jisung said, dragging him sideways so that the people beside them could order. “What are you looking for?”

“Nothing,” Hyunjin replied. “Just admiring the cafeteria.”

Jisung scanned the room with his eyebrows crossed before looking back at Hyunjin. “You’re acting extremely weird. First, the bee incident, which Seungmin has been closely convincing me that it didn’t actually happen, and thinking this,” he gestured at the area. “...place is interesting enough for you to observe.”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes. “You sound ridiculous.”

Jisung gaped at him. “ _I’m_ the ridiculous one?”

Hyunjin shrugged, ignoring his friend as the lunch lady’s assistant handed them their trays. Jisung took the one with his and Seungmin’s, still throwing words at Hyunjin on why he isn’t the incredulous one. When they reached their table and Seungmin saw Jisung bickering again, he rolled his eyes and pinched his arm.

“Ow! What was that for?” Jisung exclaimed as they took their seats. “I even got you your lunch and then you go around pinching me!”

“Did you know the whole cafeteria can hear your voice even from a ten meter radius?” Seungmin pointed out, taking his lunch. “Oh, thanks for the food.”

Hyunjin looked around while starting with his food. Thankfully, Jisung and Seungmin were lost in their own conversation to notice. He was starting to give up until someone stood up from a table near the corner, giving Hyunjin a view of who was behind them.

It was Felix, taking turns between reading and eating his lunch. He also had a notebook on his table. Hyunjin didn’t know what it was for, but he cared more about Felix eating alone. To be fair, Felix looked like he was okay with being alone.

Still, he was at the corner, almost away from everybody, and Hyunjin wanted to invite him over to where they are so he can have company.

Felix moved his head around, and before he could look to where Hyunjin was seated, he immediately turned to his food, instantly picking up his friends’ conversations.

“You two are coming with me later when I buy paper hearts.” Jisung demanded.

“Hyunjin and I don’t have time for that. Besides, they come in pairs. You need someone to buy them with.” Seungmin explained before taking a bite from his patty.

Jisung turned to Hyunjin. “Who did you buy them with?”

Hyunjin shrugged. “I bought the ones without pairs.”

“See,” Jisung looked back at Seungmin who was rolling his eyes. “I could just buy one of those.”

“Suit yourself,” Seungmin said, not looking at Jisung. “I told you, they don’t even work.”

“Yeah, you only bought them because Changbin hyung wanted one,” Jisung let that one out in a bitter tone. Seungmin was too crimson and flustered to say something in return. Hyunjin assessed the situation and made no further comment. “Besides, it worked for Hyunjin!”

“Did it?” Seungmin managed to ask him.

Hyunjin shrugged. “I guess. I dreamed of something I don’t normally dream about. It was very weird.”

“Which explains your weird behavior.” Jisung concluded. “Did you know he was scanning the cafeteria and he told me it’s because he’s admiring it?”

Instead of making fun of him, Seungmin looked at him with a curious gaze. “Did you now?”

Instantly, the image of Felix sitting comfortably at the corner of the cafeteria popped in his mind and he quickly swatted it away by blinking fast. “It’s an admirable place.”

“See!” Jisung pointed out. “Now, about those paper stars…”

They spent their lunch time like that, talking about paper stars and canteens which were actually admirable (“You should’ve seen the canteen of the school where Yangyang goes to! Now that’s worth admiring!” “Jisung, we don’t care.” “I didn’t ask, Seungmin.”). Every chance he gets, Hyunjin would turn to look at Felix. He noticed that every time his eyes lit up after reading a passage, he would grab his notebook and write something on it. Hyunjin thought he might be annotating the novel, which he found cool. He never had the patience for that, and yet there was Felix, enjoying what he was doing.

When Felix packed up his things and brought his plates to the cleaning area, Hyunjin returned his attention to his friends, but not quite. Felix was still in his mind that he was starting to become used to it.

He didn’t even realize he was smiling until Jisung pointed it out.

* * *

When they returned to Chan’s stall, there were no more jars without pairs. Seungmin, out of Jisung’s persuasion and begging, bought another one, claiming that he’s annoyed at Jisung’s whining so he did it so he could stop, but Hyunjinknew he felt bad for him and agreed.

“How was your sleep last night?” Chan asked Hyunjin as Seungmin and Jisung were arguing over which design to pick. 

“It was nice, though it felt a little bit weird. “ Hyunjin answered him truthfully. Chan smiled at that.

“Well, it’s supposed to be like that,” he said. “Good weird or bad weird?”

Hyunjin pursed his lips. “Uh…”

Was it good or bad? Was having Felix constantly on his mind good or bad? Before he could even answer, Chan spoke again, but this time it wasn’t directed to him. “Hey! You’re going home already?”

Hyunjin turned to see who Chan was talking to and he froze.

It was Felix, smiling, two brand new novels Hyunjin didn’t see earlier now being cradled in his arms. He saw Hyunjin looking at him and nodded again, causing Hyunjin to quickly turn around and look at the floor, afraid that Felix might witness the gradual coloring of his cheeks. 

“Yeah, no project stuff today.” Hyunjin could get used to hearing that voice.

“Remind me later about that novel you want to borrow, okay? Take care on your way home!”

“Thanks hyung!”

When he was sure Felix’s footsteps had vanished, he looked back to Chan again who was looking at him apologetically. “Sorry about that, now, where were we again?”

Before he could pressure Hyunjin to answer, Seungmin and Hyunjin already made up their mind and handed Chan a pair of jars. While they were having their transaction, Hyunjin took a deep breath. How could someone easily drive him crazy like that? It didn’t make sense.

He tried to keep his composure as the three of them walked home, Jisung belting out random songs that had the word “dream” on them while brandishing his new jar of paper stars in the air.

“You’re gonna break it,” Seungmin told him for the fifth time.

“ _I dreamed a dream in time gone by_ ,” Jisung started, ignoring Seungmin as he started a new song.

Before they parted ways, Jisung jokingly told Hyunjin to get well soon before Seungmin dragged him, muttering that he had to catch a tv program at home.

Hyunjin wished he’d get well soon, but from what? Felix still invaded his mind even when he reached his home. He helped cook dinner to distract his mind but everything seemed to be reminding him of Felix. He thought of doing homework until he remembered that there weren’t any to do for today. He watched another episode of the drama he was watching, but every time the main character gets all flustered about her love interest, Hyunjin’s thoughts drift back to Felix.

When it was time to sleep, he closed his laptop and turned off his lamp, purposely avoiding the jar of paper stars that was staring at him, ready to haunt his dreams again.

* * *

He dreamed of Felix again, but it wasn’t like the one before. In the dream, Felix was seated at the corner of the cafeteria while reading a novel and Hyunjin was just watching him, until Felix invited him over the table so they could read together. In the dream, Seungmin and Jisung weren’t there, nor any of the people he knew. It was filled with people he didn’t really care to recognize except for Felix.

When he woke up, he could still remember the dream vividly. After shaking off the remaining drowsiness in him when he sat up from his bed, he gave the jar of paper stars one hard glare, blaming it for the dream he had.

He got ready for school the same way he would every regular day, but he was still distracted by the dream. When Changbin asked him if he was okay on their way to school, Hyunjin just replied that he didn’t sleep well.

That was a lie. He slept well.

When he went to the room, he was surprised to see Jisung on his seat and Seungmin nowhere to be seen. Felix was already there, immersed in a new novel, and it freaked Hyunjin out how the details in his dream were more similar now to the Felix reading in the corner. Before Jisung could even point his behavior out again, he opened up a new topic.

“Well? Were the paper stars worth it?”

Jisung shrugged. “Eh, Seungmin’s right. It doesn’t work.”

Hyunjin was going to lose his mind. “Why’d you say so?”

“Well, for starters, I just dreamed what I usually dream about,” he replied. “Seriously. Nothing changed.”

“What do you usually dream about?”

Jisung returned the question to him. “What did _you_ dream about?”

“What are you talking about?” Seungmin said as he took his seat. Hyunjin didn’t even notice him come in. Seungmin looked at Jisung weirdly. “You’re early.”

“Well,” Jisung flashed a cocky smile. “Don’t look too surprised.”

“We were talking about the paper stars and how it apparently didn’t work with Jisung,” Hyunjin answered Seungmin’s earlier question.

“Huh,” Seungmin breathed out. He turned to Jisung again. “I dreamed of you.”

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows. Jisung’s smile just grew wider. “Oh yeah? What was I doing?”

“Being annoying,” Seungmin deadpanned, and they proceeded to bicker again.

Hyunjin turned to look at Felix again. If he kept this up, he’d probably have every detail about him memorized that in his next dream, Dream Felix would look exactly like Real Felix.

He scolded himself. He was already assuming that he would dream of Felix again.

As the minutes passed by and Hyunjin still kept stealing glances at the blond, he made a conclusion about the dream he had earlier. The paper stars weren't to blame anymore for it. And he didn’t know what to make of that information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! leave some kudos and comments if you want :D see you on the next update! find me on twitter i also write aus there hehe @halfmoonjisung


	3. But Wherever The Dream May Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjin realizes a thing or two—and perhaps, that could explain a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one’s long ;-;
> 
> i apologize for mistakes it’s 12 am here and i probably missed a lot while editing ill fix them later

The damned paper stars kept taunting Hyunjin everytime he woke up. Even though he was sure it wasn’t to blame anymore, he still sneered at it every morning and put the blame on it.

The dreams about Felix didn’t exactly stop. However, the dreams weren’t like the first dream he ever got. The blond wasn’t the main subject; he was just a constant. One time, Seungmin and Jisung argued over ice cream flavors and Hyunjin dreamed of ice creams. Somehow, Felix was in the background, and even though Hyunjin couldn’t remember what was the purpose of his presence, he was sure that he was there.

He started noticing Felix more often that it seemed like Hyunjin was developing another habit. He’d always look for him first whenever he enters the classroom, noting that he’s holding a different novel every time. Hyunjin even found himself paying more attention to class, in hopes that when he got called to recite the answer, he’d catch Felix’s attention the way the blond caught his.

That didn’t exactly work. The last time he was called to answer was when he embarrassed himself in class for getting lost in thought.

Lunch times; he’d observe Felix from afar again. There were lucky times where he’d get a view of him, but there were also times where Seungmin would pick a seat so far away it would be too obvious to sneak a glance.

And then on the way home, he always hoped to at least catch him as they walked out of school, maybe say hi. That didn’t happen as well.

Seungmin and Jisung weren’t clueless as Hyunjin hoped they should. Many times, they’d catch Hyunjin zoning out and Hyunjin would always come up with a dumb excuse that wouldn’t fool anyone. His friends would look unconvinced but thankfully, they didn’t press on the matter any further.

Weekend came by and Hyunjin was thankful that there was no homework to be done over that timespan. Seungmin already finished the last part of their presentation so none of them had to worry about cramming anything anymore. Since nobody in the house was doing anything for work or school, his family invited Changbin’s over for an afternoon barbecue. 

While the kids are playing inside the house and the adults are discussing gossip and game scores while preparing the grill, Hyunjin and Changbin decide to play a one-on-one volleyball game at their yard, not wanting to watch over the kids nor get involved in the adults’ conversation.

“Say,” Hyunjin started, chasing the ball that Changbin spiked. “Did those paper stars ever work for you?”

When he jogged back to their positions, Changbin looked confused. “ _ That’s _ supposed to work?”

“Isn’t it?”

“Well then, it didn’t work for me,” Changbin said, catching the ball Hyunjin tossed. “I only bought one because it looks cool, and everybody in my class had one. Did it work for you?”

Before he could answer, Changbin served the ball and they engaged themselves in a rally before Hyunjin sent the ball flying a little bit over the outside line. He groaned as Changbin shouted a celebratory phrase.

“I mean,” Hyunjin said. “I dreamed something I don’t normally dream about.”

“And you think it’s because of that jar of paper stars.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure it’s not because you were thinking about that something? Pretty sure that’s how dreaming works, at least, to the extent of what I know.”

Hyunjin let out a frustrated sigh. Changbin raised his eyebrow at him as he dribbled the ball. “No, you see, I…” he took a deep breath. “I dreamed about someone?”

“Oh. Who?”

“Someone I didn’t even notice until that dream. I swear.”

Changbin got to his position already. “Huh,” he commented. “That’s never happened to me. Maybe it’s a coincidence.”

He served the ball. They didn’t even get to have a rally because Hyunjin spiked the ball the moment it got to his side of their imaginary court. “Damn,” Changbin acknowledged, chasing after it.

It bothered Hyunjin. Call him ridiculous, but he was pretty sure that  _ that  _ jar of paper stars had something to do with the dream. But according to Jisung, Seungmin, and Changbin, it didn’t work for any of them. However, Chan was ambiguous when they briefly talked about it. He tried to trace back the past events to see the correlation of everything.

Seungmin said it didn’t work for him when him and Changbin bought the pair. Though, when he bought one with Jisung, he did say he dreamt of Jisung.

Jisung said it didn’t work for him because he only dreamed what he usually dreams about; Hyunjin realized he didn’t even know what that was.

Changbin said it didn’t work for him. Which made sense, since Seungmin said his paper stars didn’t work too the first time.

He was about to dwell on it more until he felt a sudden pain on his legs.

“Ow!” he winced, seeing the ball bouncing near him. Apparently, Changbin hit him with a ball to catch his attention. “What was that for?”

“You were zoning out again,” Changbin shrugged. “Why are you so bothered by that jar anyway? Does it have something to do with that person you dreamed of?”

That alone brought Felix to Hyunjin’s mind, and he felt his cheeks flare up again. Changbin almost instantly picked it up.

“Are you blushing?”

“N- no.”

“Yeah, you’re blushing.” Changbin now sounded like he was teasing and Hyunjin pointedly ignored him. “You have a crush.”

Hyunjin snapped his attention towards him. “I do  _ not _ have a crush.”

“You do!” Changbin was now grinning mischievously, clapping his hands in realization. “That’s why you’re bothered! Because you can’t get that person out of your mind, right? And you’re putting the blame on the paper stars when really it’s just you all along!”

Hyunjin served the ball without warning. It landed perfectly on Changbin’s side, giving Hyunjin another point, but Changbin didn’t look like he just lost. In fact, he looked like the complete opposite.

“Would you please stop that?”

“I’m not even doing anything!” But Changbin was still grinning. Hyunjin groaned. “Now, see, that’s a sign of denial. It’s like the five stages of grief, and you’re on step one.”

Hyunjin scoffed. “Like you know anything about that.”

“Now you’re moving onto stage two already; anger!”

Hyunjin chased the ball by himself, ignoring a laughing Changbin. “Stop that! You don’t know anything!”

“Definitely anger.”

Hyunjin sighed as he had the ball in his hands. He made his way back to his position, playing with the ball in his hands. “It’s not a crush. Maybe, I simply just got curious about him after seeing him in the dream, and you know, just kept wondering why he showed up all of a sudden.”

“Stage three; bargaining.”

“Would you stop that?” Hyunjin exasperated, although he knew Changbin was right. He was skirting around the obvious answer for far too long. But he wouldn’t admit that to Changbin just yet.

“Okay, okay,” Changbin raised his arms up in surrender. “I’ve had enough fun teasing you.”

Hyunjin threw the ball somewhere in the yard. “Wanna get some juice first?”

Changbin nodded and they went inside the kitchen to grab the drinks the adults had prepared. After hiding from the children who were insisting that they should play with them, they made their way outside and sat on the terrace, quenching their thirst with the juice.

Before his thoughts went back to Felix, he opened up a new topic. “So, what does Seungmin usually invite you to play on iMessage? I thought I saw him practicing 8ball last week.”

Changbin drank his juice halfway through before responding. “Seungmin doesn’t invite me to play lately.”

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

Ever since Hyunjin gave Changbin’s number to Seungmin, with the older’s permission, of course, Jisung suggested that if he wanted to start a conversation without feeling awkward about it, incorporate a game invite along with it. Seungmin then did so, his text messages with Changbin always accompanied by a game they’re playing.

“Yeah,” Changbin continued, seeming unbothered by it. “Sometime around this week, I think. The day after I saw you at the fair in the lobby, after we bought those jars.”

“Huh,”

“Oh come on,” Changbin said. “You’re seriously not trying to make a connection out of it to justify your crush.”

Hyunjin went back to drinking his juice.

* * *

When Monday came, they started the English period with their book report. Seungmin and Hyunjin were the second pair to volunteer, both of them wanting to get it over with. Jisung followed suit (after asking permission from Felix who looked nonchalant), fighting with one of their classmates on who should go after Hyunjin and Seungmin.

They picked an Agatha Christie book to report, mainly because it reminded them of the times they used to read mystery books together (and then stay up at night talking to each other because they were too scared to sleep) and their report flowed smoothly. With a little help from sparknotes, they managed to write a short yet informative outline to discuss the novel and its significance.

Hyunjin already read his part countless times last night when he was practicing and he believed he was more than ready.

That is, until of course, he stood in front.

Hyunjin wasn’t one to get stage frights or to be afraid of public speaking. In fact, he was pretty confident when it came to them. Jisung even said that he was born to be a performer, a presenter, and whatever else may be related to such.

Though, if Lee Felix was in the audience, Hyunjin wasn’t sure if that was still the case.

All week long, he unconsciously tried to catch the blond’s attention by mentioning random titles during casual conversations between class breaks, by boasting to Jisung and Seungmin that he never missed homework again and answered them all with full integrity, by randomly walking around the classroom in hopes of “accidentally” initiating interaction between them.

And now, he finally had it—Felix looked at him with interest, his head a little bit tilted to the side, a curious gaze staring right through Hyunjin. It was at that moment that Hyunjin appreciated the seating arrangement. Felix was seated near the window, and from the construction of their building, the morning sun was making its way through the window blinds, illuminating his face like he was in a living day dream.

Like he was in a dream.

And Hyunjin once again thought of Dream Felix, who looked at him like that as well, freckles glowing and eyes sparkling thanks to the sunlight. It was at that moment that Hyunjin realized how similar and how different Dream Felix and Real Felix were.

Dream Felix was perfect—in a way where magazines and advertisers would’ve easily scouted him from how he looked. Real Felix was real—in a way the sunrise was real, how every part of the scenery you’re looking at didn’t have to be perfect to be called beautiful.

It was at that moment that Hyunjin was pretty sure Changbin’s right.

He was crushing on Lee Felix.

He shook his head lightly and looked away from him, eyes landing on Jisung who was staring at Seungmin with a funny look. That brought Hyunjin back to reality, rolling his eyes at Jisung’s attempt to catch Seungmin’s attention.

_ You have Felix’s attention,  _ he reminded himself.  _ You have to do well. _

He was not going to tremble and embarrass himself in front of Felix.

So when Seungmin started the report, he put on his best smile while recollecting his thoughts about the report, working hard to prevent them from drifting back to someone whose attention was all on Hyunjin.

Throughout the report, he discovered a tactic. Whenever his eyes find Felix’s (and that happened a lot of times), he’d force himself to look at Jisung who had the most ridiculous faces while looking at Seungmin and that would bring him back to reality. Eventually, they finished the report and the whole class acknowledged their effort by clapping. Hyunjin didn’t miss the sight of Felix applauding lightly at the back and that was more than enough for him to carry a blush on the way back to his seat.

If he thought this was far from over, he would only be kidding himself.

Jisung and Felix were the next set of reporters. Hyunjin willed himself to get his shit together, earning a concerned look from Seungmin. While the two in front are setting up their visual aids, Seungmin poked him twice to get his attention. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he answered rather quickly. “Just realized some stuff.”

“Uh huh,” Seungmin sounded unconvinced. “You know, you’ve been acting weird ever since last week.”

Hyunjin laughed nervously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Seungmin let out an exasperated sigh and turned to look in front again. “You’re not that subtle, you know,”

Hyunjin was about to ask him what he meant until Felix started the report and he was caught off guard again.

“Good morning,” he greeted, and Hyunjin could swear it was almost the same as how Dream Felix greeted him. “Today, we will be discussing Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, the controversies it brought, and why it is a significant novel to read.”

And just like that, Hyunjin was drawn. The way Felix held himself in front of the class looking so smart and collected was impressive—if Jisung thought that Hyunjin was meant to be in front of people to perform or present, then Hyunjin thought that Felix was meant to capture the feelings of people just by being in front. It wasn’t just the obvious intelligence coming from him that Hyunjin admired; it was also the way he talked about reading, about books, about something he loved. Hyunjin never really talked to him as much, but he knew enough to know that the tone of Felix’s voice being both lighter and brighter was brought by his joy from the topic he’s presenting.

And if the sunlight provided the glow Felix had a while ago when Hyunjin was in front, the one he had right now came from him alone by being radiant in his own way. Hyunjin listened to every bit of their report, entranced at the way Felix delivered the discussion, like he was taking you to the novel’s events, like he was taking you back to the time when the author researched about and wrote the book.

He didn’t even realize he had his jaw slightly dropped until Seungmin gently pushed his arm, causing him to close his mouth quickly at the suddenness of the action.

“Next thing I know you’re gonna drool,” Seungmin muttered, but he had his eyes focused on the reporters now.

Hyunjin pursed his lips.

When Jisung and Felix finished their report, the class acknowledged their efforts and they made their way back to their seats.

Hyunjin was quick (and observant) enough to catch Felix briefly glancing back at him before sitting down. That alone made him blush, if he wasn’t doing so in the first place.

The rest of the reports were presented, and soon enough the class was finished. Hyunjin was putting away his notebook for the class when their teacher spoke.

“Ah, I almost forgot,” she said. “We’re going to have a small activity on Thursday. It’s a group activity with four members. I suggest two pairs from this report combine so there will be less commotion in the classroom.”

With that, she greeted the class and left. Jisung was quick to latch himself on Seungmin’s arms.

“You’re taking me in!” He declared, holding onto Seungmin’s arms. “You two are  _ not  _ ditching me again.”

“I don’t know,” Seungmin mocked, though he did not brush Jisung off. “It seems like Renjun and Jeno would make nice groupmates.”

“Take me in!”

“Just you?”

“Well, me and Felix.”

Hyunjin was suddenly interested in the conversation.

Seungmin snickered. “Did you even ask Felix? Look,” he gestured to where the blond was, talking to their other classmates. “It seems like Jaemin and Donghyuck are trying to rope him to their group.”

Jisung let go of Seungmin’s arm and stood up. “Oh, hell no.” He then made his way towards the gathered crowd. Hyunjin just watched him in amusement. When he turned to Seungmin, he noticed him doing the same, but with a distinct fondness he had never seen before.

Hyunjin’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Next thing I know, you’re gonna drool.”

Seungmin snapped out of his trance and turned to Hyunjin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know,” Hyunjin began. “Changbin hyung said you guys never texted again. Did you get caught up with something?”

“No,” Seungmin trailed, taking out his notebook for the next class. “Just didn’t feel like it.”

Hyunjin almost didn’t believe his ears. “You? Not feeling like texting Changbin hyung? Are you really Seungmin?”

“Shut up,” he hissed, but Hyunjin caught the crimson rising in his cheeks.  _ Weird _ , he thought.  _ But then, if he’s not blushing because of Changbin hyung… then… _

It was like a light bulb suddenly lit up inside Hyunjin’s mind. He was giddy when he told Seungmin, “You dreamed of Jisung!”

The other only gave him a pointed look. “Yes, I told you so.”

“No, no, no,” Hyunjin was too excited. “You  _ dreamed  _ of Jisung!”

“Hyunjin, I don’t know where you’re going with this.”

“Tell me,” Hyunjin started again. “Did you ever dream of him before you told us you dreamed of him?”

Seungmin’s forehead creased. “None that I could think of, though I’m pretty sure I dreamed about you two at least, something like the three of us having fun together.”

“Okay,” Hyunjin knew he was getting somewhere. “But in that dream, was it just you and Jisung?”

Seungmin pursed his lips. “Yes, but…”

“But you can still remember it, every bit of it.”

“Hyunjin, I’m not going to lie, you’re freaking me out.”

“Well—“

“We’re teaming up!” Jisung suddenly announced as he stood in the middle of Hyunjin and Seungmin’s seats. “Felix and I will be joining your group.”

Indeed, Felix was standing behind an enthusiastic Jisung, looking bored at the situation. Hyunjin felt his heartbeat race when he realized how near Felix was to him.

“Cool,” Seungmin responded, but Hyunjin caught the forced casualness in his tone. He decided to pester Seungmin about it later.

“What do you think the activity will be?” Jisung asked.

Felix immediately answered. “Skit Delivery.”

Jisung gaped. “How do you even know that?”

“It’s in the syllabus. You should read it sometimes.”

Seungmin coughed, trying to mask his laughter. If Hyunjin wasn’t trying to concentrate on keeping his cool, he, too, would be making fun of Jisung.

Felix excused himself after that, saying that he had to go back to the novel he was reading. Hyunjin thought it was too easy to just ask him to stay a little bit more, to talk with them before the next teacher comes in, but he couldn’t get the words out and the next thing he knew was that Felix was back in his own little corner, nose buried in a book once again.

“There’s something with you,” Jisung amused.

_ Yeah,  _ Hyunjin thought bitterly.  _ I think I’m crushing on someone I randomly dreamed about, but you don’t need to know that. _

Hyunjin was about to retort until he realized Jisung wasn’t talking to him.

“That’s just your imagination,” Seungmin answered, catching Hyunjin’s eye.

After a few more minutes of bickering, the next teacher came and class resumed. All throughout, Hyunjin thought of two things.

One, he was  _ sure  _ that the jars of paper stars had a lot to do with everything that happened.

Two, Lee Felix.

* * *

Hyunjin was pleasantly surprised to find the lobby empty. He was used to seeing the stalls before heading home, and it felt empty that they weren’t there anymore.

“Man,” Jisung commented. “We have to do that next year?”

“The fair?” Seungmin asked. Jisung nodded. “Yeah, Changbin hyung said so.”

“Oh,” Jisung replied with a much smaller voice.

While they were making their way outside, Hyunjin recognized the back of someone walking ahead of them. How could he not, when it was Felix’s?

“Isn’t that Felix?” Seungmin pointed out.

“Yeah,” Hyunjin responded, startling himself a bit with how quick he replied.

“Is he walking home alone?” Seungmin added.

Jisung shrugged. “He always does. When we had to prepare for the report, he’d walk a few steps behind me when we’re done. I mean, that time, I was scared of him—“

“Aren’t you still, though?”

“—shut up, and well, I walked faster so he wouldn’t be able to catch up. Though I did notice he takes the same route as us.”

Seungmin nodded while Hyunjin proceeded to contemplate. Either Felix was walking fast or the three of them are just collectively slow, because the distance between them grew farther as seconds passed.

A ridiculous idea came across Hyunjin’s mind. He didn’t know where this surge of confidence came from, but he wasn’t going to let it go. While Seungmin and Jisung were lost in conversation again, he devised a plan on what he was going to do tomorrow.

It was time to stop skirting around.

Tomorrow, he’s gonna ask Felix if he’d like to walk home with him. It’s not much, but it’s a good start.

He was smiling whenever he thought of it. Jisung and Seungmin were too preoccupied with their talk to notice, but Hyunjin didn’t mind. When they parted ways, he was still smiling. 

_ I have a crush on Lee Felix,  _ he told himself on the way home.  _ And I’m going to do something about it tomorrow. _

When he reached home, he greeted everyone with smiles and proceeded to go about with his day (getting homework done so he wouldn’t copy from Seungmin was also part of his routine now). After doing everything, with an addition of catching up with a recent drama episode, he went to sleep without glaring at the paper stars before doing so.

He dreamed of Felix again, of course, but this time, he dreamed of him walking with Seungmin, Jisung, and Hyunjin himself. When Hyunjin woke up, he tried hard to grasp the remnants of the dream that were slowly slipping away, but in the end all he could remember was the general idea of it and that Felix was there.

He was pretty sure it was a dream caused by his mind and the paper stars were really no longer to blame.

The day went on regularly—with Hyunjin’s new definition of the adverb, courtesy of Lee Felix being on his mind—and he was counting down to the seconds when he would pick up the courage to talk to him.

When class ended, he walked with Seungmin and Jisung up until the lobby. They were talking about the new pancake house that just opened when Hyunjin casually stopped in his tracks, and it took the other two a few more steps to realize Hyunjin wasn’t following them.

“Is something the matter?” Jisung asked.

“No,” Hyunjin trailed. “I just realized I have something to do.”

“Oh,” Seungmin said. “So, you’re not coming with us for pancakes?”

Hyunjin shook his head.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,”

“Well then, suit yourself,” Jisung said, and then he turned to Seungmin with a cheeky grin. “It’s just you and me then!”

“Oh, joy,” Seungmin deadpanned. When he turned to Hyunjin to bid him goodbye, Hyunjin saw a hint of a smile somewhere in his expression. “See you tomorrow.”

Not even after several steps ahead, Hyunjin could already hear the bickering from his friends starting. He shook his head as he stayed in his spot, waiting for the reason he was there in the first place.

After a few minutes, Felix walked to the lobby and Hyunjin’s heartbeat raced again. He took a deep breath before gathering his courage to be able to wave and smile at him.

He thought of backing out. What was he thinking, anyway? Why was he doing this? Maybe Seungmin and Jisung haven’t gone far yet, and he could still catch up with them. Before he can make a decision, he was already waving and Felix didn’t miss it.

_ Fuck _ , he cursed internally.  _ Fuck, here goes nothing. _

“Hey?” Felix greeted cautiously. “Were you waving at me?”

Felix was talking to him and suddenly Hyunjin couldn’t find himself talking back. Felix just stared at him worriedly and, after a lot more heartbeats, he managed to respond. “Hi! Uh yes, I mean—yeah, I was waving at you.”

“Oh, what for?”

Hyunjin took a deep breath. “Well—“

“Felix!”

He turned around to see who had accidentally interrupted him, and he saw a face only made familiar last week. It was Chan, rushing towards them with a novel in his hand. He already had a clue why Chan was approaching them; the novel was a giveaway.

“Hey,” he heard Felix reply. When he looked back at Felix, the blonde was blushing.  _ Wait, what? _

Chan acknowledged Hyunjin with a small nod before turning to Felix. “Figured I could rush this to you before my next class. Thankfully I saw you before you went home.”

Felix’s cheeks were now in a cute shade of pink. “What’s this?”

“Oh!” Chan exclaimed. “Remember when we chatted that time you dropped by to buy a jar of paper stars and I mentioned a book about dreams? You said you wanted to read it, so I tried to find it at home. I’m sorry it took so long, though, I was busy with the fair.”

Hyunjin wanted the ground to swallow him right there. He felt like intruding in Chan and Felix’s little bubble by awkwardly standing there, witnessing their interaction.

“Thanks,” Felix said as he took the novel. There was now a smile on his face, and from Hyunjin’s judgment, the novel wasn’t the sole reason for it. “This is amazing, thank you so much.”

“It’s no bother,” Chan answered. “I think I’ve had enough of dreams, I’ve sold out all the products. I hope people are happily dreaming.”

Hyunjin grimaced silently at that statement.

“Did you ever get one for yourself?” Felix asked.

“No, but that’s okay. I don’t sleep much anyway.” He then smiled at the two of them. “Well, I’ll head back to class now. Enjoy the book! Hey there, Hyunjin.”

Hyunjin managed a small wave directed to the senior’s retreating figure.

“Sorry about that,” Felix acknowledged as soon as he looked back at Hyunjin. “You were saying?”

But Hyunjin couldn’t find the next words. He stood there dumbly, looking at a now smiling Felix while thinking about the reason that recently caused it—Bang Chan rushing towards him and delivering a novel, one of the things Felix loved the most, to him. Hyunjin witnessed everything, from the way Felix’s eyes lit up and the way his cheeks flushed into a shy shade of crimson, he would be dumb to not figure out what was happening. It was how he was with Felix, after all.

Felix was crushing on Chan.

Hyunjin was crushing on Felix.

He looked back at the expectant Felix who’s looking at him with eyes mixed with a balance of concern and confusion, but Hyunjin didn’t know what to do. How do you even ask someone to walk home with you right after seeing them all giddy and happy with their crush?

Seungmin and Jisung were already making fun of him for acting weirdly ever since that dream. Getting rejected by Felix wasn’t exactly what he wanted to tell them either (and of course, something he didn’t want to happen).

He mustered every bit of pretense he had left and gave Felix a smile before saying the first excuse he came up with, not even bothering if it made sense; “Nothing, I was going to tell you something about your project, but I think Jisung should do it instead. Anyway, I’ll see you around!”

Without even waiting for a response, Hyunjin walked towards the exit without looking back, cheeks just as pink as Felix’s when he saw Chan.

He walked alone with his thoughts, for a while bitterly regretting Seungmin and Jisung’s offer to join them for pancakes just because he was supposed to ask Felix to walk home with him—not that they knew that anyway. He decided that it wasn’t worth it, thinking about someone who doesn’t even think about you, and tried to distract himself.

Needless to say, he tried in vain.

He used to think of the dream often, how Felix glowed under the light between dawn and daylight, how his voice sounded like a song inside the room, how he smiled at Hyunjin like he was the only one who mattered.

Now, he couldn’t stop thinking about the  _ real  _ Felix. How Felix candidly smiles at a book when reading a part he liked, how he glows under the afternoon light, how he talks to the class like he’s the smartest thing ever, how he looks at Hyunjin (and sadly, everyone else) like he was really giving his full attention to you. 

Real Felix was more complicated than Dream Felix, but Hyunjin couldn’t stop thinking about Real Felix.

On the way home, his thoughts were still plagued by the recent scenarios of the week where either Seungmin or Jisung would almost catch him looking at Felix or trying to impress Felix, or simply just thoughts of the person of interest himself. Ultimately, he decided to just do his homework when he gets home to distract himself.

Without even saying a hello to the people inside his house, he rushed upstairs and closed his bedroom door the minute he got in, put his school bag on his desk, and sat on his bed.

Right there, straight ahead from where he was sitting, was the jar of paper stars he bought from Chan a few days back along with Seungmin and Changbin, staring at him like it was both teasing and taunting him.

Hyunjin grabbed the nearest pillow and contemplated throwing it to the jar, before deciding to just bury his head on it and groan. All throughout this, Lee Felix was still on his mind.

He glared at the paper stars, ignoring how the vanity in his room still reflected the definite blush on his cheeks. “You make me want things I can’t have…” he muttered.

But even if that’s the case, it’s not like he can do anything about it.

He still couldn’t stop thinking about Felix.

He still liked him.

Unfortunately, Felix liked someone else. He didn’t even know Felix and Chan were that close, but then again, he didn’t really know a lot about the blond.

When he heard them talk at the paper stars stall, he didn’t really see any indication that Felix liked Chan. But then again, Hyunjin wasn’t looking that time.

After the events a while ago, he was pretty sure that Felix was crushing on Chan. The blush, the smile, the soft tone in the voice, the probability that he probably bought a jar of paper stars because Chan was the one selling them.

_ Pause _ .

Hyunjin sat up from his bed, dwelling on his most recent thought.

Felix bought a jar of paper stars too.

And that would mean that maybe, just maybe, Felix dreamt of someone too.

“It’s probably Chan,” Hyunjin muttered before laying down again.

However, the thoughts didn’t stop. If Hyunjin dreamed of Felix, someone who bought a jar of paper stars, and Seungmin dreamed of Jisung, again, someone who bought a jar of paper stars, can Felix dream of someone who didn’t buy or didn’t own one?

He buried his face in the pillow again. The jar of paper stars didn’t even work with Changbin and Jisung, so there’s also a chance that it didn’t work with Felix.

Still, he couldn’t push the thought away.

Felix bought a jar of paper stars too.

If it worked for him, then Felix dreamt of someone too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay hahaha idk if anything’s making sense but ill try to clear it up in the last chapter via hyunjin hehehe
> 
> find me on twitter — @halfmoonjisung
> 
> thank u for reading! comments and kudos are appreciated :D


	4. The Dream Will Always Have You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjin's determined to find out how the paper stars actually work, hoping it could answer his questions. Although, he wasn't sure if that's what he really wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope i explained the paper star thing with this chapter! if you still don't get it after this, i explained it directly in the notes :)
> 
> unbeta-ed but ill edit the entire fic now that it's finished :)
> 
> (also!!! i have decided to write a spin-off for this one but for seungsung!! let me know if you’d like that hehe)

The dream he had that night brought a scowl on his face early in the morning. Felix and Hyunjin were hanging out on a grassy field until a figure that Hyunjin was pretty sure resembled Bang Chan a little bit too much came to the scenario gallantly on the back of a royal steed and took Felix with him as they went to the horizon together, leaving Hyunjin behind.

He was glad for not remembering as much about the said dream when the minutes of the early morning passed. Though, the sour look in his face still lingered. It didn’t go unnoticed by the residents of their house as they called Hyunjin out for looking displeased at the start of the day. He let them talk, not really denying their statements.

Even Changbin commented on the look on his face when Hyunjin grumpily greeted him.

“I assume it’s not a good morning,” the older said. “So I won’t bother asking…”

“Yes, please.” Hyunjin mumbled, grateful. He almost missed the helmet Changbin threw at him because he was still deep in thought, earning another frown from the other.

“Look, if you’re going to keep sulking like that, you’re going to fall off in the middle of the road.”

“Sorry…” Hyunjin meant it.

Changbin let out a sigh as he leaned against his motorcycle, arms crossed in front of his chest, giving Hyunjin a pointed look. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing,” he replied unconvincingly. “Had a bad sleep.”

Changbin nodded, understanding. “I see… Well then, hop on. We don’t want to be late.”

Hyunjin looked at him, zoning out for a second as Changbin hopped onto his motorcycle and removed its lock. Then, a sudden thought came to his mind. “Are you friends with Bang Chan?”

“Chan hyung?” Changbin replied, surprised at Hyunjin’s question who just nodded in confirmation. “We’re in the music production club together, and we get along well so I guess yeah, we’re friends. Why?”

Hyunjin pursed his lips. “This is going to sound weird, but, is he seeing anyone? Or did he mention liking anyone?”

Changbin had a confused look on his face before his eyes widened as a sign of realizing something. “Oh my god, I get it now.”

Hyunjin gulped. “Get what?”

“Get why you suddenly asked!”

“Huh?”

“The person you said you dreamed of, the one you’re crushing on,” Changbin started, lips forming a triumphant smile. “It’s Chan-hyung!”

Hyunjin put his palm against his face.

“What?” Changbin was still smiling. “I’m right, amn’t I?”

Hyunjin snorted. “Far from it.”

“Then, why would you ask that?” Changbin said after a huff.

“Look, I swear I’m not crushing on Bang Chan. The guy’s sketchy anyway,” he paused, looking at Changbin who was listening to him intently. He debated on shrugging it off and telling Changbin to drop the topic, but something in him urged him to tell, if not all, a bit of the truth, having fed up with keeping it only to himself for how long. “The guy I dreamt of… the guy I’m  _ crushing  _ on... “ It felt both weird and relieving to admit that out loud. Still, he continued. “I think he’s crushing on Bang Chan.”

Changbin raised an eyebrow before ducking his head as he lightly laughed at Hyunjin’s confession. “Man,” he breathed out after a round of laughter. “You’re whipped.”

Hyunjin hit his arm, but since the older guy was working out, Changbin’s biceps did the damage to Hyunjin’s fist instead, making him wince in pain before replying. “I’m just curious!”

“Whipped…”

“Curious!”

“He doesn’t, by the way,” Changbin winked. “Chan-hyung, I mean. He doesn’t like that guy.”

Hyunjin cocked his head to the side. “How exactly do you know that?”

“Easy,” Changbin was now grinning. “He’s not into guys.”

“Oh…” Hyunjin realized it sounded like a breath of relief, but he wasn’t going to pretend it wasn’t.

“I know,” Changbin shrugged. “A loss for us. He’s cute.”

“Mhm…” Hyunjin hummed in response as he put on his helmet while hopping onto the seat behind Changbin. “Too bad indeed.” But he was now smiling.

Changbin caught onto the hint of change in his tone and smirked. “Good morning, Hyunjin.”

When they reached their school, more than three quarters of the class were already there and if Hyunjin were late for five more minutes, his homeroom adviser would have arrived earlier than him. Still, he was sure that even though that happened, it would still not be enough to wipe the wide smile now plastered on his face.

* * *

There was still the mystery of the entire paper stars thing that remains unknown to Hyunjin. He figured he could ask Chan, but he didn’t know where to find him. He’d ask Felix, but the thought of the blond lighting up at the sound of Chan’s name didn’t sit right with Hyunjin so he pushed that thought away instead. Interestingly, his interest on the matter was enough for him to pause his frequent staring sessions at yet another reading Felix to actually dwell and ponder about it.

He spent the entirety of his Tuesday like that, alternating between admiring Felix and thinking about the paper stars situation. He thought there was an improvement at least, with where he stood with Felix (by improvement, he meant actually smiling and waving at each other when their eyes meet without panicking).

On Wednesday, he decided to take action.

One of their classes ended earlier than what was on schedule, so that left them more free time in the room to do whatever they wanted before their next teacher arrived. Hyunjin took this as an opportunity to figure out some stuff. If his efforts all ended up in vain, at least he could say he tried.

“Jisung!” he immediately turned to his friend who was getting ready to leave his seat, probably to annoy Seungmin who was on his phone, playing an online poker game.

The other huffed in annoyance as a response. “What?”

“I have to ask you something,” Hyunjin said, making his way to where Jisung was seated. “It’s been bothering me for how long now.”

Jisung’s forehead creased. “Is something wrong?”

“No, not really…” Hyunjin trailed. “Listen, about those dreams you said that never changed….”

The sudden crimson Jisung’s cheeks gave Hyunjin the indication that he was onto something. “W- what about them?”

“Please tell me more about them.”

Jisung scoffed. “No.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because they’re not important!”

“If they’re not important then why can’t you share them?”

“Because!” Jisung hissed, cheeks becoming more flushed in every passing second. “I can’t.”

Hyunjin sighed and tried to think. He’s not going to get any answers from Jisung directly, so he had to resort to another way. “How about this,” he proposed. “I tell you my assumptions and you can tell me if I’m right, not, or near. How does that sound?”

“No,” Jisung replied flatly.

“Please!” Hyunjin was practically begging him now. From the corner of his eye, he could see Seungmin glaring at them from his seat as he plugged in his earphones to block out the noise.

“Not if you tell me what for,” Jisung insisted, challenging him. Hyunjin let out a sigh. It was about time that he let his friends know, even though they were just small details.

“I’ve been having dreams…” Hyunjin confessed, voice dropping to ensure that the words stayed between him and Jisung only. “They all include something similar in them. It all started when Seungmin roped me into buying that jar of paper stars with him and Changbin hyung.”

At the mention of the previous events, Jisung scowled. “What does  _ that _ have to do with any of my dreams?”

“Look, just let me ask questions. Please?”

Jisung rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“You said your dreams didn’t change, even when the paper stars arrived, because you dreamt of the same thing you’ve been dreaming of all along,” Hyunjin started.

“Yes…” Jisung replied, raising one of his eyebrows.

“Do these dreams include someone?”

Jisung sat up a little straighter, hesitant; and then, “Yes.”

“And this someone, did they buy a jar of paper stars too?”

“Yes…”

Hyunjin was pretty sure the gears in his brain were now working harder. “Did it ever cross your mind that maybe, the reason why you think the paper stars didn’t work is because the person you’re supposed to dream of because of the paper stars is the person you’ve been dreaming of all along?”

Jisung blinked twice. “What?”

Hyunjin leaped excitedly. “Am I right?”

“My god,” Jisung groaned. “You have a very wide imagination.”

“It makes sense!” Hyunjin huffed in defense. “It perfectly makes sense.”

“Why?” Jisung snickered. “You’ve been dreaming of someone too?”

“Yes,” Hyunjin replied. 

Jisung seemed taken aback at that, not expecting for Hyunjin to actually answer. “Really?”

“Yes,” he added. “Ever since I bought that jar of paper stars. And I couldn’t stop thinking about them.”

Jisung laughed. “You got a crush on them or something?”

Hyunjin pursed his lips and nodded.

“Shit,” Jisung cursed, his tone hinting that he still couldn’t fully believe Hyunjin. “Just because you dreamt of them?”

Hyunjin shrugged, not really knowing how to answer that.

“So are you implying that I’m crushing on the person I keep dreaming about?”

Hyunjin grinned at him slyly. “I never said any of those.”

Jisung blushed once again. “You implied…”

“Did I?”

“Look,” Jisung was now laughing nervously. “You don’t even know who I keep dreaming about.”

Hyunjin gave him a knowing look before glancing to where their friend was seated, eyes focused and concentrated as he played poker on his phone. He then turned back to Jisung whose jaw dropped when he observed Hyunjin’s actions. “I think I do.”

He spent the entire day doing the same things he did yesterday, only this time, entertaining Jisung’s pleas of not telling Seungmin anything was also added to the list.

* * *

Hyunjin woke up early the next day, mainly because the house was buzzing with orders and favors everywhere that he didn’t exactly have a choice. His mom, in particular, replaced his alarm clock and immediately dragged him off the bed, ranting about how he should move faster because she was going to clean the entire house. She urged him to get ready while she fixed his school bag, considering he didn’t have the time to tidy up when he did their homework last night.

The rush of the morning also came with the quick disappearance of the fragments of Hyunjin’s dream before he can fully grasp what happened. Still, he was pretty sure Felix was still there.

On the ride to school at the back of Changbin’s motorcycle, Hyunjin thought back to the things he recently realized, trying to piece them together. The paper stars definitely worked for his friends; Seungmin dreamt of Jisung after buying the jar of paper stars, and Jisung couldn’t realize that he dreamt of Seungmin thanks to the paper stars because he’d been dreaming about the guy all along. However, when Seungmin and Changbin bought theirs, it didn’t work. Hyunjin felt like he was getting close to the answer, but he still couldn't put his finger on it.

He arrived at school still deep in thought that he didn’t realize when the first period already started until their teacher reminded them of the group activity they were supposed to be working on. 

“Yes!” Jisung yelled as he rotated his seat to face both Seungmin and Hyunjin. “I’m not left out. Felix! Over here!”

_ Right, _ Hyunjin thought, blushing.  _ We’re groupmates. _

The next thing he knew was Seungmin opening a space between his and Hyunjin’s seats so Felix can drag his chair on that spot. “Hello,” the blond greeted.

As Felix once told them, they were indeed given a task about delivering a short fictional skit that has to do with their current topic which was one of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems. Seungmin and Felix immediately worked on brainstorming ideas for possible plots while Hyunjin and Jisung waited for them dumbly.

“Man,” Jisung breathed out. “I feel useless.”

“Me too…” Hyunjin replied, but his eyes were fixed on a certain person.

Jisung hit him in the arm without warning. “Hey!” Hyunjin yelped, glaring at Jisung. “What was that for?”

“Don’t tell Seungmin…” Jisung hissed, the volume of his voice enough for only Hyunjin to hear.

Hyunjin rolled his eyes. “I have no intentions in doing so.”

“Then why do you keep looking at him?”

“I’m not looking at him! I’m looking at—” Hyunjin cut himself off after he realized what he was about to say.

Jisung wasn’t dumb. Sure, he looked a little bit confused when Hyunjin held himself back, but soon enough his lips were forming an “o” shape and his eyes went wide in realization. “It’s F—”

Hyunjin jumped out of his seat and placed his hand on Jisung’s mouth, causing his friend to complain in muffled words. Jisung was thrashing on his place, trying to remove Hyunjin’s grip on me, and even though he was strong, Hyunjin was equally so. It was only when Seungmin yelled at them that they stopped to turn towards him and Felix, both looking at them incredulously. Seungmin looked annoyed at both of them, and Felix was looking at Hyunjin in particular, an unidentified hint of some kind of interest written across his face. Hyunjin blushed and immediately let go of Jisung who started to clear his throat the moment Hyunjin’s hand left his mouth. Hyunjin made his way back to his seat, avoiding Felix’s stare.

“As Felix and I said,” Seungmin continued. “We thought using props could make our presentation look better. Even better if we can use the said prop to convey our message.”

“Okay,” Jisung replied. “But what prop are we gonna use?”

“We still don’t know…” Felix responded, and though Hyunjin wasn’t looking at him, he could still feel Felix’s gaze on him.

“Which is why we’re asking you to lend us your bags,” Seungmin said, picking up Jisung’s bag from the floor. “And let us find something we can use.”

“Ehhhh….” Jisung trailed. “You won’t find anything there.”

Seungmin ignored him and motioned for Felix to help him invade Jisung’s bag. After about a minute of rummaging through his stuff, Seungmin deemed the items inside not helpful and picked up Hyunjin’s bag while ignoring Jisung’s retorts.

Jisung scoffed. “Hyunjin’s bag is less special, I assure you.”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes. “I beg to differ.”

Jisung turned to him, a mischievous smile forming on his face. “Don’t think I forgot where we left off…”

Before Hyunjin can even come up with something to respond, Seungmin lets out a sound of delight. “I found something!”

“What?” Hyunjin asked, confused as to what could be inside his bag that was interesting enough to be a prop.

And just like that, Seungmin pulled the very thing Hyunjin least expected to see. It was the first thing he sees when he wakes up, and the last thing he sees before sleeping. He thought that maybe his mom included it in his things when she was tidying up his bag. Just like that, the jar of paper hearts that kept taunting him was now resting on Seungmin’s hands as if it was greeting Hyunjin again.

And if Hyunjin thought things couldn’t get any weirder, Felix spoke up.

“I have a jar like that too!”

Hyunjin’s breath got caught in his throat. He couldn’t even mask the surprise that he was sure looked pretty obvious to everyone. Felix’s recent words were still ringing in his ears.

_ I have a jar like that too! _

“Really?” he heard Seungmin exclaim. “Did you buy from Chan hyung too?”

“Yeah!”

_ They come in pairs, _ he heard Chan hyung’s voice again.

“Who did you buy them with?” Jisung interjected. “Isn’t it supposed to be bought in pairs?”

“Well, I bought one from a pair… I didn’t really have anyone to buy one with that time.”

_ I took a lone jar without a pair, _ Hyunjin thought.  _ One without a pair. _

“Maybe Hyunjin bought the other jar you left! That’s why you two had similar ones!” Seungmin explained excitedly.

At that, Hyunjin let out a deep breath. When he turned to look at Felix, the blond was also rummaging through the stuff inside his bag. Jisung moved his seat closer to get a better look at what Felix was trying to find.

In a few seconds, Felix was pulling out a jar that was similar to Hyunjin’s, and it felt like the entire room was spinning.

“See,” he said, eyes meeting Hyunjin who was still speechless.

Seungmin then proceeded to spill ideas about how they can use the paper stars to symbolize the dreams of the protagonists, mirroring the theme Edgar Allan Poe used and soon enough, he and Felix already came up with a plot. Jisung was no help with the script writing, but he often dropped motivating remarks to the two when they were working.

Hyunjin was just speechless.

He couldn’t think straight. He was still in awe after seeing the two identical jars of paper stars side by side, as if they found their place together again. Felix was helping out Seungmin write the script, but every once in a while, he would turn to Hyunjin to glance at him briefly before going back to writing.

He didn’t know he managed to get through the entire period. All he was aware of was that the jar of paper stars that Felix bought was paired up with the one Hyunjin did. Seungmin and Changbin didn’t dream of each other when they bought theirs, but Seungmin and Jisung did so when they bought a pair.

There was a chance.

There was definitely a chance.

That maybe, just maybe, Felix dreamt of him too.

* * *

Lunch time came and all Hyunjin could think about was Felix, the paper stars, and what their purpose was. Seungmin insisted that he save their table instead of him, deeming Hyunjin unqualified to carry food in a zoned out state.

“Pasta!” Jisung exclaimed as he placed the trays on the table. “Finally!”

“I miss the rice though…” Seungmin commented.

Jisung whispered a short prayer before eating his food. “It’s good!” he told Seungmin.

“Everything’s good to you,” Seungmin huffed, but he still put some pasta in his mouth.

“Hey,” Jisung called out to Hyunjin. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

Hyunjin didn’t answer him. Seungmin and Jisung’s voices drowned out in the background as he watched Felix in his usual table again, reading a book while twirling his fork on his own pasta. Hyunjin thought it was ridiculous how a sight he saw everyday constantly manages to leave him breathless every single time. On top of that, Felix wasn’t even doing anything special. He was just doing what he always did; reading and being beautiful.

Hyunjin already went through a lot of stages of denial, misunderstandings, and missed chances. He spent too much worrying about what the paper stars meant when in fact, it wasn’t what mattered at all. What mattered was that he was crushing on the freckled guy he got to know in the dream, the bookworm that caught his eye in class, the dream in the form of a person he would like to get to know more.

To hell with paper stars; he liked Lee Felix, and that’s what mattered.

The paper stars may have caused the first dream and drove him to this point, but it was still in Hyunjin’s own accord that he was crushing on Felix. Not the paper stars, but him.

He stood up from his seat.

“Jin?” Seungmin called out cautiously. “Are you okay?”

“Hyunjin?” Jisung added, tugging at the sleeve of Hyunjin’s jacket lightly.

He took his tray which had his plate of untouched pasta, a glass of iced tea, and a banana. He felt the eyes of a few people in the cafeteria looking at him, but he didn’t care. He looked at his friends before saying, “I have somewhere to be.”

He took his tray and made his way to where Felix was seated, still twirling his fork and reading his book. This, this walking towards Felix, was something the paper stars nor any of his dreams told him to do. This was something  _ he  _ wanted to do. In a matter of seconds, he was standing beside Felix’s table and the blond was looking up at him in surprise.

He was pretty sure he heard Jisung say “I knew it!” followed by Seungmin’s “Knew what?” somewhere behind him, but he didn’t dwell on that. Instead, he looked into Felix’s eyes who were looking back at him with interest.

“Can I sit with you?”

When Felix didn’t respond, Hyunjin felt like he was doomed. There were a few people, his friends included, watching what he just did, waiting for what was going to happen next. He expected Felix to look at him weirdly, to shake his head slightly and give him a sorry smile, declining, and then he would be forced to return to his previous table and entertain all of Seungmin and Jisung’s queries.

What he didn’t expect was for Felix to smile the same smile he had when Hyunjin first dreamt of him. “Go ahead.”

Hyunjin slowly sat across Felix, not breaking eye contact with the other as he did so. Felix closed his novel and placed the weight of his head to his palm.

“Hi,” Hyunjin greeted, not knowing what to say.

“Hey,” Felix replied. “What brings you here?”

He was pretty sure he blushed even more after that. “Uh…”

Before he can think of anything to answer, Felix was now leaning towards Hyunjin, trying to get a better look at his face, a small smile still on his lips. Hyunjin was once again speechless. He was pretty sure his friends were probably as confused as he was with what was happening, but he didn’t really move away from his spot. He let Felix look at him, let Felix read him like he was a novel, let Felix match his gaze. After a few seconds, Felix went back to his place, still not breaking eye contact with Hyunjin.

“It’s the same,” Felix breathed out.

“Pardon?”

“You look the same,” Felix said, tilting his head to the side. “You also look at me the same way.”

“The same way?”

Instead of answering, Felix smiled and asked him a question. “Did you dream of me?”

Hyunjin froze.

Felix only took his reaction as an answer. “I guess you did. I was weirded out at first when I kept catching you looking at me weirdly, because you never did that before. Until a while ago, when Seungmin pulled out that jar of paper stars from your bag.”

“How?” It was the only thing Hyunjin could manage to say.

Felix chuckled, catching Hyunjin off guard once again with how nice it sounded. “I dreamt of you too.”

Hyunjin’s jaw dropped, and he was pretty sure he looked ridiculous right now. “Uh…” he started. “I mean, yeah, yeah, I did.”

Felix didn’t respond and instead grabbed his bag from the floor. He rummaged through his stuff again and then brought out the all too familiar jar again. “Do you think this has something to do with it?”

_ The first dream? Yes, _ Hyunjin thought.  _ The rest of my dreams after that? Not really. _

He looked into Felix’s eyes again before deciding that it was time to tell the truth, or at least everything he knew. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I think it’s because of the paper stars that I dreamed of you.” Felix was listening to him intently and he was pretty sure he looked like a tomato right now, but he urged himself to keep going. “At first, I didn’t know why. I thought that maybe it picks a random person for you to dream of and think about, but then for a few of my friends, it didn’t work. For some, however, it did, but I still couldn’t find the relation of their own dream to mine. And then…”

They both looked at the jars resting on the table.

“I see…” Felix started. “I was pretty surprised myself that I dreamed of you when I bought this, considering we never really talked.”

Hyunjin still couldn’t get used to the fact that Felix actually dreamed of him. “I only bought one because my friends did so, what about you?”

It was Felix’s turn to remain silent.

Still, Hyunjin managed to conclude his answer. “Bang Chan?”

Felix scowled, and Hyunjin slapped himself mentally for thinking at how cute he was when he did that. “You’re pretty observant.”

_ Only with you,  _ Hyunjin thought silently. “Not really…” he replied truthfully.

“Though,” Felix started again. “It’s pretty hard to think of him lately. Maybe it’s a sign that I should stop, it’s not like I’m going to get anywhere with pining.”

“Right…” Hyunjin replied as he remembered Changbin’s words, unable to stop himself from smiling.

“I’ve read lots of books and came across countless stories,” Felix said. “But I still don’t know why we dreamed of each other.”

Hyunjin blinked dumbly. “Well, we did say a while ago that it’s because we bought a pair—”

“No, I get that part,” Felix cut him off. “I mean, what was the point of dreaming about each other? You said it didn’t work for some of your friends…”

“Well,” Hyunjin scratched the back of his neck. “My neighbor and my friend bought a pair, and nothing happened. But when that same friend of mine bought another one with a different person, they dreamed of each other.”

Felix was silent.

Hyunjin felt the need to talk again. “I guess it doesn’t work sometimes.”

“Or they weren’t meant to dream of each other, even when they had a pair,” Felix said. “The paper stars can only work when the two people who buy a pair are supposed to be something. Tell me something about these two friends of yours.”

Hyunjin was sure Felix knew who he was talking about, but he appreciated the effort to keep the topic general. With that, he turned to look at his friends who were suddenly rushing to find something to do ( _ As if I didn’t know they’re watching _ , Hyunjin thought.). Jisung took Seungmin’s banana and unpeeled it, which caused Seungmin to smack his arm, probably to call him off for trying to eat his food.

Hyunjin turned back to Felix. “I think they like each other, they’re just too stubborn to admit it. Maybe that’s why they dreamed of each other.”

Felix nodded. “Then why did we dream of each other?”

Indeed, why?

Hyunjin didn’t know how to reply, because he didn’t know the answer. Before the dream, he never really thought of Felix, never tried to glance at him every now and then, never dreamt of him constantly. He wasn’t sure why the paper stars worked between the two of them when they never really crossed each other’s minds before.

But still, he liked Felix. And he was pretty sure his feelings weren't caused by the paper stars. It can let him dream all he wants, but he liked Felix because  _ he  _ did, and not because of a jar of paper stars.

“I’m not sure why,” he answered truthfully. “But I’m sure I want to get to know you.”

Felix raised one of his eyebrows.

“The paper stars may have been the reason why we crossed each other’s minds,” Hyunjin continued. “But they're not the one telling me right now that I want to get to know you. The dream showed me you, a glimpse of you, and I want to know more. I want to know you.”

By the time he was done, his heart was hammering inside his chest. He worried he might start sweating soon, but at the same time he felt relieved.

And above all that, Felix grinned. “I’d like that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, knowing how these paper stars work is exhausting anyway,” Felix replied. “I’d rather get to know you.”

Hyunjin matched the smile on Felix’s face.

Instead of thinking about the paper stars, he spent his lunch period talking to Felix, getting to know more about the boy who once used to be just a constant part of his dreams. Eventually, Seungmin and Jisung joined their table, Jisung complaining about how they were having fun and leaving him and Seungmin behind. After that, they walked back to class together.

When classes ended, Hyunjin let Seungmin and Jisung go home ahead of him as he waited for Felix to return the book he borrowed from the library, smiling at the retreating scenario of Seungmin having Jisung on a headlock as they walked away from the gate.

“How long do you think before they realize?” he heard Felix ask as the blond found his place beside Hyunjin.

“Do I need to intervene?”

“Hmmm…” Felix hummed. “I say, let them be. I think they can handle it.”

And with that, he stepped out of the campus into the light of the afternoon sun, turning to Hyunjin with a smile that matched the one in his dream but at the same time so different and new. “You coming?”

Hyunjin nodded, blushing furiously as he joined Felix in their walk home together.

There’s never really a definite reason why we dream, moreover, why we dream about someone. Science has yet to find an explanation to this phenomenon, but for now, we only hold on to theories. 

Though, Hyunjin figured he didn’t really need to dwell about that anymore.

It was because of dreams that he started noticing Felix, started thinking about him. But it was in reality that he started wanting to get to know him, and started crushing on him.

Maybe the jar of paper stars was to thank for, somehow, for the dream he had that night.

But the dream walking beside him on his way home? That’s Hyunjin’s reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> think of it like a soulmate au--if the two soulmates buy a pair of jars, they would dream of each other. seungbin didnt dream of each other because, well, they werent meant to. seungsung, on the other hand, did so because, well, i guess theyre soulmates :) so hyunlix dreamed of each other because 1) they bought jars that were part of the same pair and 2) theyre technically soulmates
> 
> thank you so much for reading! i love you all hehehe
> 
> twitter: @halfmoonjisung


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